December 2004
If ordinary DRGs don’t give you enough detail, try this set of codes
How a simple checklist changed one hospital’s approach to bloodstream infections
With these inpatient anticoagulation guidelines, reducing costs was just the beginning
Why less really can be more when it comes to teaching hospitals
Inserting a central line? Tips to go beyond E/M services codes
November 2004
Growth strategies for hospitalist programs
Hospitals give inpatient immunizations a boost
How a medical response team can help patients before they code
Want to boost the number of patients using CV drugs? Try prescribing them at discharge
Why physicians need help when talking about serious errors
Spending extra time with patients? Try prolonged services codes
October 2004
Locked out: Why some hospitals are limiting which hospitalists can work on their wards
How glucose control eliminated mediastinitis in cardiac surgery patients
The three “R’s” of consultation codes: request, render and reply
A hospitalist by any other name?
How one hospital is bringing residents into its quality improvement efforts
Ventilator-associated pnenumonia guidelines take new view of evidence
A closer look at how hospitalists practice efficient medicine
September 2004
Hospitalist pay and productivity: How do you measure up?
Tips to avoid trouble with subsequent hospital visit codes
Resident work hour rules, Medicare pay
Why evidence-based medicine isn’t always a black-and-white matter
What happens when patients are discharged from hospice care?
How new sepsis treatments are challenging the conventional wisdom on patient care
A look at how specialty can affect physician performance in the inpatient setting
August 2004
Building a better discharge proce
Improving post-discharge care for a difficult group
Strategies to diagnose delirium in hospitalized patients
One strategy to keep community-acquired pneumonia out of the hospital
Why the patient safety movement can be a “double-edged sword”
Study: Children admitted at night face a higher risk of death than patients admitted during the day
Study yields few surprises’but furthers the debate’about inpatient statins
Tackling four common myths about critical care service codes
July/June 2004
Hospitalists and hand-offs: the problems that plague the process
Is there a time when hospitalists should just say no?
How one mentoring program helps young physicians grow as hospitalists
A novel solution for an ailing medical liability system
Co-managing surgical patients: New opportunity or “mission creep” for hospitalists?
Hospital medicine update: research highlights from 2003
Why the issues surrounding sign-outs make some physicians nervous
Challenging hospitalists to prevent needless deaths on their watch
The dual roles of hospitalists at community teaching hospitals
New study examines the effect of statins in noncardiac surgery
Is it pulmonary edema or pleural effusion? Tips to avoid confusing medical acronyms
May 2004
Protecting patients from errors: a look at three initiatives
How software helped solve a hospitalist’s specific problem
The finances of hospice care and the role of hospitalists
The case for faster treatment for community-acquired pneumonia
Tips to include your time when selecting a level of service
April 2004
How hospitalist programs are handling rapid growth
Will the real hospitalist please stand up?
One Santa Fe group is putting the spotlight on diagnosing and treating osteoporosis
Tackling burnout before it’s too late
The struggle to build a better hospitalist
Finding simple strategies to reduce the irritating effects of noise pollution
When it comes to choosing diagnosis codes, don’t forget to give details about location
March 2004
Timelier treatment for community-acquired pneumonia
Protecting the data on your PDA
How one group of hospitalists helped streamline the admissions process
How one hospitalist hopes to influence the government’s health policy process
Choosing ICD-9 codes for three common inpatient conditions
February 2004
Pay incentives for hospitalists
To boost admissions (and do the right thing), these hospitalists took on nursing home duties
Strategies to prevent problems with central lines
To make its processes “lean,” this hospital took a page from the Japanese car industry
New recommendations call for tighter glucose control for hospitalized patients
January 2004
Finding consensus in end-of-life care
A look at statins in perioperative care